Eye-tracking Experiment Research Articles

Effects of visual risk indicators on phishing detection behavior: An eye-tracking experiment

Cybersecurity vulnerability ranks among the foremost global business risks. Phishing attempts, in particular through email, persistently challenge organizations despite substantial investments in IT security and awareness training. Recognizing the limitations of unilateral technology- or human-centered approaches, this study explores how visual risk indication can support employees in detecting phishing attempts. To do so, we conducted an eye-tracking lab experiment in which participants rated the trustworthiness of emails with varying levels of credibility. Our analysis focuses on human information processing in identifying phishing attempts, indicating that the availability of a visual risk indicator can significantly influence trust and response behavior, without incapacitating implicit phishing cues (such as conspicuous senders or anonymous recipients). Our findings suggest that organizations should appropriately calibrate visual risk indicators to achieve the intended guiding effects. However, the calibration remains a trade-off and depends on the organization’s environment. We discuss implications for integrative cybersecurity approaches to mitigate phishing attempts more effectively.

Visual Experimentation Research on Traditional Residential Courtyard Spaces Using Virtual Eye-Tracking Technology

Courtyard space serves as the soul of traditional residences in Southern China, representing a gem in traditional Chinese architecture. Courtyards play a multifaceted role in architecture, including functions such as lighting, ventilation, water collection, solar radiation, and environmental beautification. This paper, building upon previous research and theoretical foundations, takes three types of courtyards in "Kong House" as the research subjects. Through methods like data collection, literature analysis, questionnaire surveys, and eye-tracking experiments, the study investigates the spatial experience of courtyard spaces in traditional residences. It quantitatively validates the design theory of courtyard spaces, analyzes the similarities and differences in spatial experiences among comprehensive courtyards, landscape courtyards, and functional courtyards, and concludes the study. The experiments indicate that incorporating courtyard spaces in traditional residences can effectively influence human behavior patterns and perceptual choices. Comprehensive courtyards typically stimulate more exploration and lingering behaviors. The combination of virtual reality and eye-tracking experiments provides valuable visual information and statistical data for analyzing human behavior and evaluating traditional residential design schemes.

Visual Experimentation Research on Traditional Residential Courtyard Spaces Using Virtual Eye-Tracking Technology

Courtyard space serves as the soul of traditional residences in Southern China, representing a gem in traditional Chinese architecture. Courtyards play a multifaceted role in architecture, including functions such as lighting, ventilation, water collection, solar radiation, and environmental beautification. This paper, building upon previous research and theoretical foundations, takes three types of courtyards in "Kong House" as the research subjects. Through methods like data collection, literature analysis, questionnaire surveys, and eye-tracking experiments, the study investigates the spatial experience of courtyard spaces in traditional residences. It quantitatively validates the design theory of courtyard spaces, analyzes the similarities and differences in spatial experiences among comprehensive courtyards, landscape courtyards, and functional courtyards, and concludes the study. The experiments indicate that incorporating courtyard spaces in traditional residences can effectively influence human behavior patterns and perceptual choices. Comprehensive courtyards typically stimulate more exploration and lingering behaviors. The combination of virtual reality and eye-tracking experiments provides valuable visual information and statistical data for analyzing human behavior and evaluating traditional residential design schemes.

Examining Cross-linguistic Influence of Japanese Word Order: An Eye-Tracking Study on L2 English Learners’ Text Comprehension

Cross-linguistic influence is a systematic and unavoidable feature of language learning. This study aimed to investigate whether prepositive word order in Japanese noun clauses can serve as a cross-linguistic influence element in the acquisition of relative clauses (a form of a postpositive modifier) in English. To test this hypothesis, this study conducted an eye-tracking experiment with native Japanese speakers and showed the following results statistically. First, Japanese participants generally paid more attention to modifier clauses than the noun phrases they modified when reading English sentences with relative clauses. Second, when interpreting accusative relative clauses, longer fixations were observed both in the modifier clauses and in the antecedents, likely due to their complexity for Japanese L2 learners of English, as evidenced by the lowest accuracy rate. Finally, and most notably, the findings revealed that the participants who had not fully acquired the relative clause construction focused more on the left side of the relative pronoun than those who had. This tendency was most prominent when interpreting subjective relative clauses, a result that supports the hypothesis that prepositive L1 modifiers could be a CLI element in the acquisition of English postpositive modifiers.

Using Synchronized Eye Movements to Predict Attention in Online Video Learning

Concerns persist about attentional engagement in online learning. The inter-subject correlation of eye movements (ISC) has shown promise as an accessible and effective method for attention assessment in online learning. This study extends previous studies investigating ISC of eye movements in online learning by addressing two research questions. Firstly, can ISC predict students’ attentional states at a finer level beyond a simple dichotomy of attention states (e.g., attending and distracted states)? Secondly, whether learners’ learning styles affect ISC’s prediction rate of attention assessment in video learning? Previous studies have shown that learners of different learning styles have different eye movement patterns when viewing static materials. However, limited research has explored the impact of learning styles on viewing patterns in video learning. An eye tracking experiment with participants watching lecture videos demonstrated a connection between ISC and self-reported attention states at a finer level. We also demonstrated that learning styles did not significantly affect ISC’s prediction rate of attention assessment in video learning, suggesting that ISC of eye movements can be effectively used without considering learners’ learning styles. These findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on optimizing attention assessment in the evolving landscape of online education.

From Eye Movements to Personality Traits: A Machine Learning Approach in Blood Donation Advertising

Blood donation heavily depends on voluntary involvement, but the problem of motivating and retaining potential blood donors remains. Understanding the personality traits of donors can assist in this case, bridging communication gaps and increasing participation and retention. To this end, an eye-tracking experiment was designed to examine the viewing behavior of 75 participants as they viewed various blood donation-related advertisements. The purpose of these stimuli was to elicit various types of emotions (positive/negative) and message framings (altruistic/egoistic) to investigate cognitive reactions that arise from donating blood using eye-tracking parameters such as the fixation duration, fixation count, saccade duration, and saccade amplitude. The results indicated significant differences among the eye-tracking metrics, suggesting that visual engagement varies considerably in response to different types of advertisements. The fixation duration also revealed substantial differences in emotions, logo types, and emotional arousal, suggesting that the nature of stimuli can affect how viewers disperse their attention. The saccade amplitude and saccade duration were also affected by the message framings, thus indicating their relevance to eye movement behavior. Generalised linear models (GLMs) showed significant influences of personality trait effects on eye-tracking metrics, including a negative association between honesty–humility and fixation duration and a positive link between openness and both the saccade duration and fixation count. These results indicate that personality traits can significantly impact visual attention processes. The present study broadens the current research frontier by employing machine learning techniques on the collected eye-tracking data to identify personality traits that can influence donation decisions and experiences. Participants’ eye movements were analysed to categorize their dominant personality traits using hierarchical clustering, while machine learning algorithms, including Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest, and k-Nearest Neighbours (KNN), were employed to predict personality traits. Among the models, SVM and KNN exhibited high accuracy (86.67%), while Random Forest scored considerably lower (66.67%). This investigation reveals that computational models can infer personality traits from eye movements, which shows great potential for psychological profiling and human–computer interaction. This study integrates psychology research and machine learning, paving the way for further studies on personality assessment by eye tracking.

Using Eye tracking to Examine Young Adults' Visual Attention to E-cigarette Advertising Features and Associated Positive E-cigarette Perceptions.

Little is known about the influence of e-cigarette marketing features on the antecedents of e-cigarette use. Using an eye-tracking experiment, we examined visual attention to common features in e-cigarette ads and its associations with positive e-cigarette perceptions among young adults. Young adults (ages 18-29) who smoke cigarettes (n = 40) or do not use tobacco (n = 71) viewed 30 e-cigarette ads on a computer screen. Eye-tracking technology measured dwell time (fixation duration) and entry time (time to first fixation) for 14 pre-defined ad features. Participants then completed a survey about perceptions of e-cigarettes shown in the ads. We used regression models to examine the associations between ad features and standardized attention metrics among all participants and by tobacco-use status and person-aggregated standardized attention for each ad feature and positive e-cigarette perceptions. Dwell time was the longest for smoker-targeted claims, positive experience claims, and price promotions. Entry time was the shortest for multiple flavor descriptions, nicotine warnings, and people. Those who do not use tobacco had a longer dwell time for minor sales restrictions and longer entry time for purchasing information than those who smoke. Longer dwell time for multiple flavor descriptions was associated with e-cigarette appeal. A shorter entry time for fruit flavor description was associated with positive e-cigarette-use expectancies. Young adults allocated attention differently to various e-cigarette ad features, and such viewing patterns were largely similar by tobacco-use statuses. Multiple or fruit flavors may be the features that contribute to the positive influence of e-cigarette marketing among young adults.

The impact of virtual influencer advertising on consumer response: a moderated chain mediation model based on mind perception and parasocial interaction

ABSTRACT This study explore how virtual influencer advertisements affect consumer response. Based on the SOR theory, an eyetracking experiment with 76 participants and a questionnaire survey with 298 participants were conducted to construct a moderated chain mediation model. The results show that emotional virtual influencers attract more advertisement attention and exert more positive impacts on consumer response than professional ones. Mind perception and parasocial interaction act as chain mediators, while the impact of parasocial interaction on unfamiliar products endorsed is more significant. These findings open up the “black box” of virtual influencer reactions and provide guidance for virtual emotional marketing.

Not all consumer-generated images are attractive and persuasive: A heuristic cue perspective

This study explored how the features of consumer-generated images (CGIs) influence consumers' attention and purchase intention in both browsing and buying stages of online shopping, as well as the mediation of these effects. We consider the common features of image reviews (e.g. brightness, clarity, product displaying proportion and consistency) as heuristic cues evaluated by consumers. We posit that image brightness, clarity and product displaying proportion are product irrelevant cues associated with CGI attractiveness in the browsing stage, whereas product consistency is a product relevant cue associated with CGI attractiveness and purchase intention during the buying stage. Eye-tracking experiments with 127 undergraduates using Parka products support our hypotheses. The results indicate a positive correlation between the quality of product-irrelevant cues and CGI attractiveness in browsing, and a similar positive association with product-relevant cues during buying. The results also show that both product relevant and irrelevant cues are positively associated with consumers’ purchase intention, mediated by eliciting emotional arousal rather than visual attention. This study extends the literature by shifting the focus from assessing the overall aesthetic quality of CGIs to the importance of specific features in different online shopping stages. The study provides important implications for e-commerce platforms to strategically encourage users to submit CGIs that maintain consistency with the merchant-provided images and exhibit high image quality attributes such as brightness and clarity. Future research should explore CGIs across different product types to understand their varying roles.

A study of spatial cognition in the rural heritage based on VR 3D eye-tracking experiments

Traditional Chinese villages act as the essential carriers of China’s rural heritage. Such villages are considered to retain living practices of intangible heritage through know-how, artistic and folk customs, as well as a well-preserved architectural appearance. However, their conservation is at stake due to degradation, abandonment, and urbanization. Spatial cognition is one way of bringing people to the matter of what is important to conserve (attributes) and why they are important (values). This is done by analysing how people perceive and value rural heritage. Traditional methods of gathering spatial cognition data, such as laborious fieldwork or subjective qualitative analyses, often fall short of providing a holistic representation of real-world experiences. This article presents an innovative method for analysing cognitive features in traditional village spaces using an immersive virtual reality equipped with an eye-tracking system. We selected Cheng and Jitou, two traditional Chinese villages, as our case studies. In two virtual reality environments, we captured accurate 3D cognitive data, including participants’ locomotion, gaze point, and sightline. The results indicate that the accessibility of village roads affects the distribution of people’s locomotion, which in turn affects the distribution of people’s areas of interest; the changes in the rhythm of the sightline scale reflect the rhythm of spatial changes in the villages. By broadening the understanding of spatial cognition in traditional Chinese villages related to people’s values, this paper sheds light on an alternative approach to assess the cultural significance of such villages for higher conservation and sustainability.

Assessing two methods of webcam-based eye-tracking for child language research.

We assess the feasibility of conducting web-based eye-tracking experiments with children using two methods of webcam-based eye-tracking: automatic gaze estimation with the WebGazer.js algorithm and hand annotation of gaze direction from recorded webcam videos. Experiment 1 directly compares the two methods in a visual-world language task with five to six year-old children. Experiment 2 more precisely investigates WebGazer.js' spatiotemporal resolution with four to twelve year-old children in a visual-fixation task. We find that it is possible to conduct web-based eye-tracking experiments with children in both supervised (Experiment 1) and unsupervised (Experiment 2) settings - however, the webcam eye-tracking methods differ in their sensitivity and accuracy. Webcam video annotation is well-suited to detecting fine-grained looking effects relevant to child language researchers. In contrast, WebGazer.js gaze estimates appear noisier and less temporally precise. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method and provide recommendations for researchers conducting child eye-tracking studies online.

Form generative approach for front face design of electric vehicle under female aesthetic preferences

Vehicles are the most representative product of both transportation and industry. Fueled by the growing popularity of energy-saving and environmentally friendly ideas and policies, new energy technologies and their supporting industries are experiencing constant development and refinement. As a result, electric vehicles (EVs) are steadily displacing traditional fuel-powered vehicles as the dominant force in the vehicle market. The experience economy is driving a significant shift in the direction of EV development, which is transitioning from improving functionality to optimizing the emotional connection consumers have with their vehicles. This means the form factor of the vehicle itself is becoming a key element in attracting consumers and influencing purchasing decisions. Over half of China's EV consumer market is comprised of females. However, many companies continue to develop products solely from a male perspective, missing out on a vast market opportunity. Therefore, incorporating design elements that cater to female aesthetic preferences into EVs can undoubtedly play a crucial role in unlocking this significant segment of the market. Based on this, the paper proposes a form generative design approach that specifically caters to the preferences of female consumers within the theoretical framework of Kansei engineering.The research process begins by obtaining Kansei imagery through the collection and analysis of big data. Subsequently, eye-tracking experiments are conducted to define the key design elements of the automobiles. Concurrently, appropriate aesthetic measurement indicator (AMI) system is established. Next, AMI values are computed for the sample set. This data is then leveraged to create a mapping relationship with the Kansei imagery, enabling the objective reflection of subjective aesthetic evaluations. Finally, an integrated Kansei evaluation equation serves as the fitness function within a generative approach that utilizes genetic algorithms and visual AI to produce form design solutions for electric vehicles. The evaluation confirms that the proposed design approach successfully generates a substantial number of high-quality creative solutions that align with female aesthetic preferences, while maintaining low cost and high efficiency.

How readers attentive and inattentive to task-related information scan: An eye-tracking study

PurposeAttentive to task-related information should be the highest priority for all readers engaged in task-reading. Investigating the scanning behaviors of attentive versus inattentive readers shed new insights into the sequential cognitive processes, but it has seldom been studied. This study investigates their global patterns on a global scale, pertaining to the whole length of scanpaths, and further compares local tactics, local strategies, and local strategy transitions on a local scale, related to the isolated regions of scanpath. Design/methodology/approachA regular style reading system with the question, navigating, and text areas on its interface, and two types of task, namely fact-finding (FF) and content understanding (CU), were designed in an eye-tracking experiment. 24 participants were placed into attentive (AR) or inattentive (IAR) readers groups according to their fixation duration on task-related paragraphs. A global sequence analysis algorithm, Needleman-Wunsch, was applied to uncover global patterns across the whole length of scanpaths (whole-scanpaths). A local sequence analysis method related to frequent sub-scanpaths was adopted to extract local tactics specific to the reader and task. Coding was performed to identify local strategies by classifying local tactics. A local strategy transition was further identified as a sequence of frequent local strategies at the beginning, middle, and ending phases. FindingsWhole-scanpaths of AR significantly differed from those of IAR, despite the absence of global patterns for each group. Five types of local strategy were identified, namely locating information(LI), evaluating and verifying text relevance (EVR), navigation heuristics (NH), synthesizing information(SI), and contextual clues (CC). AR applied all types in both tasks, whereas IAR applied only two types and stuck with EVR. Furthermore, two types of local strategy transition were identified: comprehensive exploration and iterative content evaluation. AR employed the former with the linear feature in FF and the spiral feature in CU, while IAR employed the latter in both tasks. OriginalityThis study advances the knowledge of dynamic cognitive processing from an attentive and inattentive to task-related information perspective. An objective analysis perspective for obtaining global patterns, local tactics, local strategies, and local strategy transitions is provided, then it can provide new insights into automatically classifying readers. The results also generate detailed and valuable guidance for improving reading system design and training readers.

The Effects of Live Streamer's Facial Attractiveness and Product Type on Consumer Purchase Intention: An Exploratory Study with Eye Tracking Technology.

As a booming branch of online retailing, live-streaming e-commerce can present abundant information dimensions and diverse forms of expression. Live-streaming e-commerce has enabled online retailers to interact with customers face-to-face, resulting in widespread instances of emotional and impulse buying behavior. Prior research in live-streaming e-commerce has suggested that live streamers' characteristics, especially the live streamer's face, can affect customers' purchase intentions. The present research used questionnaire surveys and an eye tracking experiment to investigate the impact of live streamer's facial attractiveness on consumer purchase intention for search-based and experience-based products. The questionnaire survey analyzed 309 valid questionnaires and revealed that attractive faces are the key influencing factor driving consumers' impulse purchase intentions. Moreover, consumers' emotional experience plays a partial mediating role in the process of live streamers' faces influencing purchase intention. The eye tracking experiment further explored the mechanism of a live streamer's facial attractiveness on consumers' purchase intentions of search-based products and experience-based products from the perspective of visual attention by analyzing 64 valid sets of data. The results showed that attractive faces attract more consumers' attention and, therefore, increase their purchase intention. Furthermore, there is a significant interaction between product type, the live streamer's facial attractiveness, and consumers' purchase intentions. In the case of unattractive live streamers, consumers are more likely to buy search-based products than experience-based products, while the purchase intention does not vary between search-based products and experience-based products in the case of attractive live streamers. The present study provides evidence for 'beauty premium' in live-streaming e-commerce and sheds light on the design of the match between live streamers and different types of products.

Does risk preference matter to consumers’ willingness to pay for functional food: Evidence from lab experiments using the eye-tracking technology

With the prominence of nutrition-related health issues worldwide, functional food is supposed to be an efficient way to address this challenge by achieving its nutrition and health benefits. However, whether consumers are willing to pay (WTP) for high-nutritional value foods of this kind and what is the role of consumers’ risk preferences in their WTPs are unclear. This study employs a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to investigate the effect of risk preferences on consumers’ preferences and WTPs for functional food, focusing on four attributes of dairy products: origin, organic label, functionality and price. We also seek to understand the physiological mechanisms underlying this effect by a lab experiment using eye-tracking technology. The results show that consumers have various preferences and WTPs for different attributes of milk, but they are reluctant to pay for functional milk. Compared to consumers with low-risk preferences, consumers with high-risk preferences are more willing to purchase functional milk. The evidence from eye-tracking experiments indicates that visual attention to the attributes considered positively correlates with their consumption preference. Consumers with high-risk preferences tend to pay more attention to the functional attribute and therefore have a higher probability of purchasing functional milk. This study implies that consumers’ risk preferences should be considered when promoting consumers to purchase functional food, as different consumers have significantly distinct preferences.

Exploring the Semantic-Inconsistency Effect in Scenes Using a Continuous Measure of Linguistic-Semantic Similarity

Viewers use contextual information to visually explore complex scenes. Object recognition is facilitated by exploiting object–scene relations (which objects are expected in a given scene) and object–object relations (which objects are expected because of the occurrence of other objects). Semantically inconsistent objects deviate from these expectations, so they tend to capture viewers’ attention (the semantic-inconsistency effect). Some objects fit the identity of a scene more or less than others, yet semantic inconsistencies have hitherto been operationalized as binary (consistent vs. inconsistent). In an eye-tracking experiment (N = 21 adults), we study the semantic-inconsistency effect in a continuous manner by using the linguistic-semantic similarity of an object to the scene category and to other objects in the scene. We found that both highly consistent and highly inconsistent objects are viewed more than other objects (U-shaped relationship), revealing that the (in)consistency effect is more than a simple binary classification.

Tourists’ visual attention and preference of intangible cultural heritage

ABSTRACT Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a significant resource for integrating culture and tourism and an essential content of tourism development. This research used an eye-tracking experiment, a retrospective oral report, and a questionnaire survey to collect tourists’ objective eye movement data and subjective preference for ICH. Results indicated a significant difference in tourists’ visual attention and preference for different categories of ICH. Tourists put most visual attention and preference on ICH folk customs and ICH skills. Moreover, character, culture, and life elements are main focus. Findings from the research provide insight into ICH tourism development.

Online Assessment of Cross-Linguistic Similarity as a Measure of L2 Perceptual Categorization Accuracy

The effect of cross-linguistic similarity on the development of target-like categories in a second or additional language is widely attested. Research also shows that second-language speakers may access both their native and the second-language lexicons when processing second-language speech. Forty-three Catalan learners of English performed a perceptual assimilation task evaluating the perceived similarity between English and Catalan vowels and also participated in a visual world eye-tracking experiment investigating between-language lexical competition. The focus of the study was the English vowel contrasts /iː/-/ɪ/ and /æ/-/ʌ/. The perceptual task confirmed that English /iː/ and /æ/were perceptually closer to native Catalan categories than English /ɪ/ and /ʌ/. The results of the spoken word recognition task indicated that learners experienced greater competition from native words when the target words contained English /iː/ and /æ/, illustrating a close link between the two types of tasks. However, differences in the magnitude of cross-language lexical competition were found to be only weakly related to learners’ degree of perceived similarity to native categories at an individual level. We conclude that online tasks provide a potentially effective method of assessing cross-linguistic similarity without the concerns inherent to more traditional offline approaches.

Do green information transparency and exposure always boost online sales of organic food? An Evidence from China

Although information transparency and exposure have proven to be important factors in influencing sales, it needs to be further explored whether they always have a boosting effect on sales. This research collected sales data from an e-commerce platform in China to measure the impact of green information transparency and exposure on online sales of organic food, while an eye-tracking experiment was conducted for variable construction. Results show that both green information transparency and exposure can significantly promote online sales of organic food, but the promotion effect varies by sales volume level. In addition, a new finding is that increasing either the green information transparency or exposure will better promote sales than both increasing them. The research emphasizes the value of making trade-offs between green information transparency and exposure in promoting sales. In other words, in order to increase sales as much as possible, stakeholders need to consider more publicly transparent green information or more frequent exposure of green information depending on the level of sales.

Pedestrians’ responses to scalable automated vehicles with different external human-machine interfaces: Evidence from a video-based eye-tracking experiment

To enhance the efficiency and safety of interactions with pedestrians, numerous external Human-Machine Interfaces (eHMIs) concepts for automated vehicles (AVs) have been proposed and evaluated, predominately based on singular pedestrian-AV interaction scenarios. This leaves a gap in comprehending the efficiency and robustness of eHMIs during interactions with scalable AVs. To bridge the gap, this study pioneers an exploration of pedestrians' road-crossing decisions, perceived clarity, and gaze behaviour during synchronous interactions with multiple AVs equipped with different eHMIs. An eye-tracking experiment was conducted, involving 48 video stimuli depicting two AVs (with yielding patterns and eHMIs manipulated) approaching a predetermined road-crossing location from the same side of a two-way, four-lane, un-signalized road. Each yielding AV will present one of four eHMI manipulations (i.e., light band, smiling expression, pedestrian symbol, and no eHMI as baseline), resulting in 16 unique eHMI combinations and video stimuli. Eighty-seven participants were recruited and tasked to respond to approaching AVs, during which their road-crossing decision time, perceived clarity, and gaze metrics were recorded. Findings revealed that different eHMIs across AVs were associated with prolonged road-crossing decision times, diminished perceived clarity, and intensified visual attention as evidenced by increased fixation counts and durations. Regarding AVs equipped with the same eHMIs, the pedestrian symbol-based eHMIs resulted in heightened clarity perception, reduced crossing decision times and visual engagement, in contrast to eHMIs presented in abstract light bands or smiling expressions. Furthermore, for eHMI-different AVs, those featuring only one eHMI within AVL-AVR pairs were perceived as less clear, eliciting heightened visual cognitive load and decision times. Integration of a pedestrian symbol-based eHMI in AVL-AVR configurations garnered superior clarity ratings and facilitated time savings. These findings of this pioneering study provide insights for eHMI design for future AVs in complex traffic scenarios with scalable road users.